Improvement in reversible plows



dal ofte.

EPHRAIM C. HODGE, OF ONEONTA, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 108,907, dated November 1, 1870.

lMPRoyEMi-:NT IN REvERs|BLE PLows.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part ol the same.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, Eminem C. Hopen, ot' Oneonta, in the county of Otsego and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Reversible Plows; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a portion of this specification, in whichl Figure 1 is a side view, showing the face of the moldboard of a plow constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2'is a similar view of the same from the other or opposite side. p

Figure 3 is a plan or top view ot" the same.

Figure 4 is an end view, from the rear, of the saine.

Figure 5 is a detached side View, showing a modification of one feature of the invention. l

Figure 6 is a plan view of the parts indicated in g. 5.

Figure' 7 is taken in the line a: x of figs. 2 and 3.

Figure S is a similar sectional view, taken in the line y y vof iig. 1. V

Figure 9 is a detached view'of a portion of the mechanism employed for holding the mold-board in position.

Figure 10 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the connection between the mold-board and share.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.4 l

This invention relates to that cla-ss of plows known as hillside plow's, and used for plowing sloping or hillside lands.

Its object is to provide a plow of the kind indicated that maybe used not only for that purpose, but which may'also be employed in the tillage'of dat lands with as much cicienoy as if constructed particularly therefor; also, to enable the mold-board to be elfectuallyV heldin position when in use, and conveniently disengaged preparatory to being turned from one side of the beam to the other, l j' The invention consists in certain novel means where- :by the desired objects are secured. v

To enable others to understand the construction and operation of my invention, l will proceed to describe it with reference'to 'the drawing.-v`

l A is the beamffwhich may bev of cast metal, oi' any. nsualor desiredi'orm, or of wood, and having attached to it the handles B- in any suitable manner.

: To its lower rearward part A'is xed the-combined 'shoe' and landside O. This is composedA of two. plates a, as indicated in figs. 4 and 7, bolted'rmly upon the two sides of the lower-ed'geportion of the part A just mentioned. A v

a vertical transverse sectional view,

The shoe of the plow is constituted -by the lower portion of O and the land-side by the upper portion ofthe'same, the two being thus combined in one, but each serving its own special purpose in the operation of the plow. This enables the land-side and shoe to be readily and conveniently attached in place with reference to each other, the-beam, the crotch, andthe mold-board, and, at the same time, presents a smooth surface to the land.

The mold-board D has its forward part pivoted to the lower front extremity 0f the beam inside of the shoe, at l), by the usual arbor and socket, and further back carries the ordinarycrotch E, k'llle axialerulvot' this crotch E, however, instead of having its pivotal point nearly in line with Ithe bottom ct the shoe, as has hitherto been the case, has such pivotal point pro: vided midway, or nearly so, between the base of the shoe and the top ot' the vland-side, as represented in ligs.-2 and 4. Very great advantages are gained by this, inasmuch as the axialline or centerot oscillation of the mold-board bears a certain relation to the .snrface'contour of the reversible mold-board, and it is found, by'careful trial and experiment, that, when the axial line is arranged at or near the base of the shoe, and nearly horizontal, vin the usual manner, the lines`ot` a dat-land plow cannot be ladapted to the mold-board of a hillside or reversible one, whereas, by

' elevating the rear .pivot of th'e mold-board to' a point midway or between the base of the shoe and the top of the standard, and thereby-giving'a considerable inclination to the axial line, s nch adapation of land-side surfacesto hillside or 'reversible mold-boardsis Avery eiectually secured, and the plow is tted for use either for hillside or dat-land plowing.` For example, having reference to fig. 1, when .the mold-board is in'the pol sition shown in said -ligure, the part below a line drawn from e to f, having the forinof a mold-boardfof a dat-V land plow, maybeused' for turning fui-rows on perfeotly lcvel elds. In like manner, when the moldboard is reversed, the part bounded by a line drawn from g to 7i, being brought lowcrmost upon the opposite side of the beam, and being ofthe same land-side form as the other, may act in the same way on level land. At the same time, the mold-board being re#- rorsible, the plow may be used withpall convenience for hillside plowing. p Such configuration of thevmoldboard, however, would be unattainable in practice were it not for the special arrangement, hereinbefore described, ot the pivotal point at which Athe crotch is l connected to the rear of the standard orv shoe, as the and the top of the former.

In order to provide. for the retention of the reversi- -ble mold-board in placeln'pon either side Vof the beam',

and to dispense with the inconvenient device ordinarily employed for such purpose, I pivot to the rear end off the beam, in front of the handles, a hook, F, having two downwardly-extending prongs, i, shown in iig. 9, so arranged that, when the mold-board is brought to its place ou one side of the beam, a hole provided in the mold-board near its edge will receive the adjacent'prongof the hook, so that the mold-board will beheld in place thereby. When the mold-board` is reversed, a correspondinghole near the opposite edge of the same receives the other'prong of the hook with a corresponding results Tofacilitate the liberation of the"moldboard preparatory to itsreversal, the hook has its rear end extended back between and. behind the handles to form a lever, which is pressed upward by a spring to bring Vthe hook to its place in holding the mold-board, as previously described.

In order to release the moldbo:1i'd,it is only necessary to depress the lever with the foot to lift the hook, which may, of course, be donc without taking lthe hands from the handles. Y

lu vorder to enable a colter to be used in lthe requi site'rlation with the mold-board, in either position of the latter, two colters I are provided, both upon thesalne pivot, but one upon each side of' the` beam, as shown more fully in iig. 8.

'These colters are arranged to be let down and raised up alternately as the position ofthe mold-board is reversed. Each has bellind it, at the lower edge of tho beam, a stop 'or stud, an, and forward of it, and near the up'per edge of thebeam, a similar stopor stud, n.

'lhese stops an. n sustain the cut-ter against theistrain upon it when passing through the ground.

In usingthe plow, the colter on that side of the beam-opposite that at whicrrtiie mold-board is sit'l'iated is let down into its nearly vert-ical position, while the other colter is brought up horizontally beside the' beam, and there retained out ofthe way by springing inward between the upper and lower llanges ofthe beam. This position of the two colters isV shown more fully in iigs. 1 and 2.

When the mold-board is turned to the opposite sideA ofthe beam the position of the colters is, ofl course, 1

reversed.

lAs a modification of this feature of my invention,

I propose in some cases to employ a single colter at l tached to the beam by a bolt or pivot arranged above the beam in such a way that the'colter may be turned upward and changed from'oue side of the beam to the other, as will be understood by a reference to figs. 5 and 6, the coltcr in this case being held against the backward thrust of its work by strap shoulders or stops provided one upon each side of the beam near the lower edge thereof.

' In order to provide for the convenient changing or reversal of the position ofthe colters by the plowmau while occupying his proper position between the handles of the plow, the colters are extended beyond their pivots, and curved backward, to forni handles, which are within easy reach.

,'To provide for" the more secure retention of the share J in place upon the mold-board, there i: prol vided, at the extremity` of each wing thereof, a projection or stud, w, shown in fig; 2; and in the adjacent portions ot' the mold-board are formed recesses of correspondingr shape, into which said projections or studs are snugly fitted, while the forward central por- A tion of the share is firmly held to the front extremity -ot the mold-board by one or more bolts o, as is more fully represented in iigJO. v v

By means of the joint-holding action ofthe projections or studs w and the holt or bolts fv, the displacement iu any direction, o1' in any way, is ei'l'ectually prevented.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure 1. A reversible plow, in which the bottom edge of the land-side or its shoe is at a depressed angle with vthe 'pivotal line on which the mold-board turns, for

for the ordinary's|10e,in combination with a reversible jplow, as shown and described.

EPHRAIM C. HODGE. lVitnesses W. H. Mouais, D. J. YUGER. 

